Tag: William DeVry

It’s no secret that I think General Hospital is blowing the rest of daytime out of the water! I said so here –> Why You Should Be Watching General Hospital. I received a very interesting counterpoint from writer, Ilona Saari. (More about Ilona at the end of this post). I thought the response was so interesting that I’d like to share it with you. It’s a different kind of GH love letter:

I only wish I thought the show was as good as you do. But I’m glad to see it from you prospective. Granted, it is far superior to the Pratt/Guza Penthouse 4 years, but when Guza took back the reigns, it began to get better w/ humor (Diane was created), wonderful returns of old characters (Robin) and wonderful pairings (Scrubs) – his problem as a writer was that he would come up w/ great story ideas and beginnings, then develop ADD and not be able to follow thru… Wolf, the strike scab, was just a plain disaster… Then Ron and Frank came, and at first they did wonders and I loved the integration of the OLTL characters.

But, alas, that didn’t last as OLTL-ABC and Frank/Ron became embattled in copyright garbage and egos. The show suffered as Ron hadn’t a clue had to deal w/ it all storywise, so it was dealt w/ badly. The lst return of the Nurse’s Ball was an unmitigated disaster w/ a cheezy set that looked like the ball was being held in a church basement to the embarrassment of Richard Simmons.

Then when the OLTL mess was over, Ron decides to bring back Roger as Franco. God Lord, that was an insane creative choice. This wonderful actor could have been anyone… a new Q, a Cassadine, a Webber or Spencer even a white Ward… but nooooo. The brain tumor explanation was just plain lazy writing. And Carly would never, ever be w/ Franco after what happened to Michael.

Letting Jax go, the last white knight really (except for Patrick) was a huge mistake – Carly and Jax could have grown into the Rachel/Mac of AW of GH… They were a mature, sexy, dynamic couple, imo. Carly was softened, but not made soft, by her love for Jax.

Bringing Nik back, however, was a smart move and his love affair w/ Britt (and her redemption) has been the best thing about GH since the show fell back into disrepair during last year’s Nurse’s Ball.

The Cassadine/Obrecht/Faison/Duke/Anna stuff was was too cartoonish and has fallen totally flat for me as a writer – Masks, masks everywhere. I’m sorry – once was enough – then again w/ Anna and Obrecht? Oy. And now what – again w/ fLuke – I hope not. But this fLuke storyline is just cringe-worthy tho I’m sure TG is having a ball. If he’s really Bill Eckart or Damian Smith, as rumor has it, neither would be jonzing after Kiki or be so creepy a sexual predator… If it’s Damian – did he have his face made like Luke if he survived the fire? Is it yet another mask? I don’t care. I FF thru all TG’s scene and have never done so before – ever. I just want Ron to stop writing Tracy as an old, lonely woman who will believe anything to keep Luke – and just end this miserable story. Tracy and Luke are dynamite together — this story is just an embarrassment to all involved. But at least I got to see Ned. I wish Frank would bite the bullet and bring back Ned. I don’t want the Qs to vanish — they are our look into John Cheever country, always have been, and I love that family – but all recent head writers of the show seem to want to demolish them… and now Ron is building up a new “core” mob family w/ the Jeromes.

I won’t even go into Obrecht and how I also find her existence at the head of the hospital one of the laziest pieces of writing Ron has done.

I do love Julian and Ava, tho — again for many, many reasons and I love that Julian is Sam and Lucas’ father – fun. I hated the courtship w/ Alexis tho where she was flirty like a teenage virgin. What a waste of Alexis. Tho now that they’re together, I like their chemistry. I just hope the writing becomes more interesting on how these two will work.

I am also thrilled that Ric’s back, tho his relationship w/ Liz never cut it with me. His courtship and marriage to Alexis til Guza ruined Ric did. Their bantering and love was GH’s version of Tracy/Hepburn and I loved them together. That said, I do not want a Nik/Liz rerun – I want Nik and Britt to find their way back to each other — they are very hot together.

I did think Jordan was undercover from the beginning, but I do like her addition to the show as long as Ron is not setting her up to replace Anna because he wants to get rid of Finola.

Levi is another embarrassment. Obrecht and Donna Mills being sisters,, etc., etc. Say what??? Trying to make another instant family w/ Nathan and Britt and Obrecht at the expense of who?

The show is bloated w/ characters and no one was more mistreated than Sean Kanan — Ron so botched his return and decided to throw AJ under the bus much the way Guza did after AJ had become such a fascinating “Sidney Carton” character well on his way to redemption. The killing of AJ was a disappointment and only serves to give MB more angst moments and a shot at an Emmy. But then to let the story just dangle somewhere in space for weeks, again – sloppy, lazy writing.

Ron does that a lot. He starts a story and then you’re left for weeks til it becomes part of the canvas again. He doesn’t seem to know how to write the three story arc traditional in soaps in a weekly fashion, so if a viewer doesn’t like one story, s/he gets a bit of the ones s/he does like on a weekly basis.

Sabrina and Patrick are a mess as a storyline… and her character has been shoved down our throat for too long – she’s a dolt and a bore and she’s dragged the character of Patrick down w/ her. And Carrrrrrlos. Don’t get me started.

Thank God Maxie’s back! Our own Carole Lombard — is Nathan her Clark? He might be. he has the look. And I love the way he looks at her.

Duke, OTOH, is a yawn. Anna has no chemistry w/ him anymore. Robert should have been the one to stay at GH, not Duke. And Robert in this disaster of a fLuke story, might have saved it.

Well, if you’ve read this far – I will end on an ‘up’ note. I still love GH — and do think the show’s better now than a few years ago — and I think it’s getting better again from all the mistakes Ron made last year… and I agree about the diversity — It’s been seamless and I love that. It’s about time.

Ilona Saari is a former speechwriter, deputy press secretary, and is the author of the political thriller Freeze Frame, available on Amazon. FYI, you Foodies out there, our author also writes her own blog featuring the most amazing recipes and travel adventures you’ll find anywhere! Read more at “My Dinners with Richard“. It’s more than worth your time – I believe you’ll thank me for it!

While Ilona and I may not agree 100%, I love having such a well seasoned, meaty, opinion to give me something to think about. I’d like to thank my talented friend for keeping my feet on the ground, because I do love GH enough to put my blinders on and keep lowing it “as is”. Complacency kills in any creative field.

Shhhh… don’t tell her, but I still think that this show is the best in daytime.

Sabrina… I just can’t. I want to be empathetic, and yet I just keep hoping there aren’t too many Sabrina/Patrick scenes to fast foward.

Elizabeth and Ric? Sweet, Subtle, feels so real. I love them. Given the way Ric left the show with each exit, it’s sometimes difficult to remember how sweet and kind he’s capable of being. Ric is Mr. Right Now, Mr. Right Tomorrow, and Mr. Right Whenever-Wherever – as far as I’m concerned. I’ve always loved Rick Hearst best when he was playing a romantic lead (GH’s Ric Lansing, GL’s Alan Michael Spaulding, BnB’s Whipple Jones).

Lulu/Dante./Rocco- Big Ben? Ditto. Sweet, Subtle, Real. Given his pedigree, I love that Dante is so protective of Ben that he doesn’t want to talk about the worst of the worst aspects of his job. He has to spell out D-E-A-D because he doesn’t want Rocco to hear the word. Keep that baby away from your father and bar ware, Dom.

F’luke and his disregard for forensic evidence is astounding. He never wears gloves. He never does anything in hiding. Unless he planned on killing Bobbie and the cutie pants officer guarding Lucas’ door, what was the point of attempting to kill Lucas while being the last person in the room? Add that the fact that his hand and finger prints are all over Lucas’ breathing tube – as his prints are all over the gun that was used to shoot Lucas and kill the hitman. F’luke’s crime spree is getting stranger and and stranger, and I hope that’s intentional – serving as an indicator that he’s on a rampage and will soon be caught.

Ava.. F’LOVE… I effin’ love Ava and the writing for her! She utters the words, “Mr. Corinthos is sending someone for me” to her server at about the time Carly is going to play audio evidence of her guilt in Connie/Kate’s murder? Methinks she’ll see Sonny, in person.

Carly has never had a respect for the law, decency, morality or ethics, but it shocks me that she would steal AJ’s phone (yeah, it still shocks me) and give Sonny the info, rather turn the recording over to the police. Sonny is going to end up in prison one way or another. He’s either going for killing AJ or for killing Ava. Carly doesn’t always know what crimes Sonny has committed, but she’s been in his life long enough to know that he’s almost never innocent. Her involvement in pointing Sonny in Ava’s direction is reckless, no matter what.

Ava is a beast… she’s reading “Crimson Magazine”? She is a beast (and I’m not quite sure how I mean that. It’s both good and bad.) She must really like dancing on Connie’s grave! This is Maura West as ATWT’s Carly Tenney, defiling the sacred Snyder pond by flicking a cigarette into it. What is it about MW’s bad girl characters, who seem to like sticking it to the people she hurts. No cardboard cut out of Connie for target practice? Ava is showing some restraint.

I get it… my beloved Scotty Baldwin is the AJ Quartermaine of the Baldwin family. He’s a perennial screw up, but even he should have held his ground and been willing to call Julian’s bluff rather than had him set free. Scotty is capable of being a bad ass, when he wants (that is, when the writers let him). I wish this was one of those times. How much has Julian changed when he’s willing to pull a gut punch like this one? I realize that he was desperate to get to Lucas and saved him from Fluke, but had he told the truth, he could have done more for his family. His behavior makes me question Alexis’ judgement even more – both as a mother and as a woman. For all of her warnings to Molly about being smart, making good choices, putting her future first, Alexis does none of these things when she’s in love with her latest mob kingpin boyfriend. What can Molly learn from her? It also doesn’t make sense that Shawn was irredeemable for not being able to leave Sonny’s organization and yet Julian is far worse.

More Sabrina/Patrick/Emma/baby Drake? Still can’t.

Ava trying to convince anyone, most especially her own daughter, of her innocence is hilarious! Kiki chastising Ava for sleeping with her boyfriend’s father is even funnier! Adding Ilene Kristen as Ava’s mother to this pair? That is a stroke of genius.

HA, that Carly finally notes that A.J. is not AJ Quartermaine but Ava Jerome. Sonny realizes that AJ was pleading for his life and that he’s killed an innocent man. How will the writers redeem him? Can Sonny be redeemed after this? My guess is that we will find out that Sonny didn’t deliver the final blow. It’s another Fluke murder (again taking place in the hospital) or someone else has taken A.J.’s life when he should have been on the mend. The problem is that A.J. would never have been in the hospital to be murdered if it weren’t for Sonny. The additional step they’ll have to take is to convince the audience that A.J. was slated for death no matter where he was found. Will it work, or is it possible that the writers have gone too far, this time? A.J. has rarely been a chaacter i liked or loved (I couldn’t stomach Billy Warlock’s portrayal of the character) BUT he was a legacy character and I wish he’d survived this ugly attack.

Even when Sonny is dead wrong, Carly tells him to stop blaming himself. Is this goober serious? She’s angrier at Ava for upsetting Sonny than she is at Sonny for killing an innocent AJ? Michael should stop sending Mother’s Day cards. No phone calls, no Mother’s Day luncheons. Carly is more of a partner to Sonny, even separated, than she has ever been a mother to any of her children.

Geez, it seems like such a small issue – Lulu wanting to carry her own child, but it is potentially, so big. Lulu is willing to risk losing the only shot (for now) she and Dante have at having another child, because she wants to carry the child herself, knowing the risk for miscarriage. Is it simply natural to want to carry a child at any cost or is it selfish? It’s a question for this couple to answer, but I have to wonder, given Dante’s lean toward surrogacy, if this is an issue that will come between them, later.

Fluke, threatening babies. PLEASE let that bastard be caught soon. Sure, go after Ava, but the threats against children make me want to see this guy get his! The writers were brilliant to have Fluke play on Julian’s insecurities (most notably, the fear that Anna hates “Jules” and wants to bring him down so badly that he shouldn’t count on her for help. There’s no way Anna would allow Fluke, or anyone else, to kill Julian while he’s in her care, but he doesn’t know that.

Elizabeth and Ric are my shelter from the storm of crazy that is GH. Just watching them joke and plan for a dinner feels like a romantic getaway. I know there will have to be some sort of conflict, soon, such as Liz wanting Nik back the minute he’s together with Britt again, happy and probably planning a family. For now, I’ll take what I can get.

Ok, the only interesting thing about Sabrina and Patrick is that Drake becomes her son’s middle name? Is that a subtle tell that he is Patrick’s son? Is baby Gabriel going to make it? Gabriel Drake Drake? I dunno.

Ava thinks that she and Sonny are on decent terms. I can’t wait to see her run into Sonny’s arms, thinking he’s there to rescue her. Carly asking Sonny what he’s going to do is as maze dull as anyone could be. She gave her “snitches get stitches” speech to Sonny when explaining why she would never go to the police. What was the point of her asking Sonny what he was going to do. Of COURSE he is going to kill Ava. Is there any doubt about that? Isn’t that why he killed AJ? His belief that AJ killed Connie? Carly and Sonny have played this game for too long!

Like many of you, my feed was disrupted by the President’s comments and ending the war in Afghanistan – so we end, here, and move on to other important news. I will see you again, soon.

…if you’re not already a fan! If you think this blog reads like a love letter to #GH, you’re damned right it is! This show is not just good, it is the best it has been in a very long time! Why should you watch? I could give you as many reasons as there are cast members, but here are my big four:

1 – Balance, balance, and more balance.

When I last walked away from General Hospital as a consistent viewer, lead and supporting characters were one of three types: Mobsters, Mob Molls, or Mob affiliated. Having more than 35 years invested in this soap, I can remember when the show was about family drama and intrigue, romance and mystery. I see so much more of that now than before the mob takeover. Ric Lansing is back and he’s sworn off his former mob ties. At least for now, the story is that he has come back to reconnect with the only woman who ever truly loved him and who wasn’t looking for a life on the edge. Hell, he WAS the edge the last time he and Elizabeth were together. In scenes that I love like sunshine, we also see him back and reconnecting with his daughter Molly, whose only father figure has been her uncle and Ric’s brother, Sonny Corinthos. Keep in mind that Sonny was also her mother’s former lover, the father of one of her sisters, and the former lover of another sister. The mob was so well integrated into the show that even family members were sleeping with and having children with the same mob boss (yeah, yeah, Sam didn’t know that Alexis was her mother, at the time). Bigger twist? Sam’s child with Sonny is delivered stillborn and provides the stem cells that Kristina, his daughter with Alexis, needs to survive.

You need a truckload of Advil and at least 12 of your 14 vacation days to pull apart the twisted family tree GH writers created in order to sell the mob storyline.

The mob had become so important that even Justus Ward, whose family was made up of prominent social activists in the Port Chuckles community, became another mob mouthpiece. He eventually lost his life and was stuffed in the trunk of a car, as a result of his affiliation with Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan (Jason being a cousin to Justus). It lacked dignity and was shockingly bad given the history of the Ward family. The Ward family was part of the extended Quartermaine family but respected in their own right before the Q connection. Prior to the writers’ belief that “mob magic” was so potent that fans would root for almost all characters to fall under the spell of Sonny and the various mob kingpins, I had hope that Justus, as the remaining onscreen Ward family member, would be spared.

The ultimate betrayal of fan trust came, for me, when Jasper “Jax” Jacks was deconstructed, transitioning from an educated ruthless billionaire corporate raider, to a man on the run from both Sonny’s empire of aggression and from the law for daring to protect his and Carly’s duaghter, Josslyn. From what you ask? From living her life in the path of a stray bullet that was almost as likely to take her life, as the bullet that put big brother Michael Corinthos in a coma – stealing his childhood and most of his adolescence. Michael spent years, after waking up, dealing with recovering from that stray bullet. The bullet and resulting coma pushed his childhood kidnapping out of contention as the worst thing to ever happen to him. Damn that Jasper Jacks for not realizing that kidnapping and bullets to the head can be character builders for children, not just childhood trauma!

Now? That sort of storytelling appears to be long gone! Even the introduction of Parry Shen’s “Brad” is not a celebration of mob life. Brad Cooper is the son, and grandson, of 80’s Asian Quarter mob kingpins. Brad enters as a (mostly) upstanding citizen, barely shadier than the rest of Port Chuckles’ residents. For now he has sworn off his mob family history and is a GH physician. It was touch and go at the beginning of his introduction, but he is currently in the same hot mess so many of our PC citizens find themselves in. Instead of mob molls and mob affiliated characters, we’re back to honest business leaders, police officers who aren’t on the take, as well as (and this will surprise you) drama at General Hospital that is about the hospital, nurses, and the doctors! Shocking, I know.

Even more shocking? I find myself liking Sonny, more, now that the GH universe is no longer centered around canonizing GH’s resident mob boss. There are many stories to be told in Port Charles and the writers are making sure they tell as many of them as they can.

F’Love

2. Diversity is a real thing on GH and not just something the cool kids are trying.

From the Asian Quarter, to Tom and Simone Hardy, to the introduction of the Ward family followed by Miguel/Lily/Sonny, GH has struggled with integrating diverse characters into the show in a way that is neither stereotypical nor exaggerated. The Ward family marks, for me, GH’s first real, and nearly successful, attempt at getting it right, including the Jason/Keisha/AJ triangle:

Now? Diversity on GH is not about check boxes and clunky integration. Diversity just IS on this show, it’s organic. Characters aren’t remarkable/ good/ evil/frontburner, because they can be used to show that daytime is finally catching up with the rest of the world. Diverse characters and their families on GH aren’t getting airtime for the publicity they bring a show. They are seamlessly integrated into the show and their time spent on air is character driven, not storyline driven! Their lives are about the characters themselves and not about the reaction of others around them.

Brad/Felix/Lucas. Like any triangle, there are winners and losers. Both Felix and Lucas have been betrayed by Brad, so watching them grow closer feels right. The writers have handled this one perfectly. I want Felix and Lucas to become a real couple, but like any couple brought together out of betrayal and hurt feelings, I have to wonder if either (or both) will end up waking up one morning wanting Brad back. While that would crush my love for Felix and Lucas – which I will survive, I know that I can accept it because it is no different than what takes place with any other triangle. I am thrilled that their storyline isn’t about helping any of the three overcome bigotry-inflicted shame, and that it’s not about being closeted and fearful. There is a time and place for that type of storytelling, but there is also room for the stories of others -those whose sexuality is not about morbid fascination from the outside. Brad/Felix/Lucas are telling a story about conflict, love, anger and forgiveness. I am impressed.

Jordan/Shawn. I’ll admit it. I’m on record stating that the glow Jordan gives is not a halo but hellfire. I thought that Shawn would have been smart to run in the opposite direction whenever he saw Jordan coming. I was wrong. I was SO VERY wrong. What I love most about Jordan and Shawn, is that their storyline is almost 30 years in the making. Do they remind you of anyone else? For me Jordan/Shawn/TJ are the 2000s version of Anna/Robert/Robin. It’s not an exact retelling, but it’s close enough. I have been longing for a return to the WSB and it’s glory days and GH is giving it to me by the bucket full… it’s just a little more understated. Jordan/Anna comes to town with a shady past and possibly sketchier future. Instead Jordan/Anna is DEA/WSB and the other big issue she has on her plate, one that fills her time when she’s not bringing down bad guys, is dealing with a child (TJ/Robin) whose life has been shrouded by a huge secret.

The focus isn’t on what they bring to the table as “people of color”, it’s what they bring to the table as people. Each individual is layered and nuanced and the minute you think you know any of the members of this family, a new layer is peeled away. At her introduction, the audience asked: Was Jordan back to seduce Shawn and force him to take her in as he’d taken in TJ? Was she back to reclaim her beloved son? Was she using her son to cover her shady connection to the Jeromes? Just when we couldn’t figure out her game, she’s revealed as a DEA agent, in town to clean up PC and find the real drug kingpin. STOP NOW!

If this storyline and this show gets any better, I’ll be looping it all day long and ignoring all other entertainment. Jordan’s story now makes me question Shawn, in particular, and now I wonder what the rest of his story is. Jordan, the DEA agent, would surely never have entrusted the care of her beloved son to a man who was a killer. What does she know about Shawn that either he is hiding or that doesn’t know about himself because someone else is hiding the truth from him?

I can’t wait to find out.

3. Women as diversity? Yes. Women who are strong? Hell yes!

Tracy Q., Carly, and Alexis are, for the moment, in a downward shame spiral, in my opinion. I can accept that more easily, at this time, because they are the exception, no longer the rule. The women of GH have become strong, smart, and capable of standing on their own. Are they perfect? No, but they’re so far ahead of where the women of this show were just a few short years ago.

They’ve transitioned from being either dedicated mob molls (Carly, Robin, Kate/Connie, Olivia) or paid mob mouthpieces (Alexis, Diane). In some cases, they were both (again, Alexis and Diane).

No matter which side of morality/decency/the law we find them, I am thrilled to see Anna, Jordan, Ava, Lucy, Felicia, Britt, Obrecht, Lulu, and others being treated as women with hearts AND brains! There will be a time, I’m sure, when the currently weak GH women, and, yeah – I’m looking at YOU Tracy Quartermaine, will step up to the plate and become strong again, but the balance of women in distress with women taking charge is refreshing.

There have been times when women on GH have felt more like window dressing than people. This is not one of those times.

4. There are almost no weak links on this show, currently.

I’m just not crazy about Sabrina and Patrick. I can’t see a situation that would cause me to root for them as a couple. They simply fall flat for me. Even still, I don’t see them as a “weak link”. I can see what the show’s fans like about them. I just don’t feel it. Sabrina and Carlos, I get. Sabrina with Patrick feels more ike “Flowers in the Attic’ or “Petals in the Wind” than a romantic couple ,for me.

I truly despise Carly and Franco. I cannot understand the writers’ thinking in trying to reform Franco and in making him a frontburner character. Somehow, it feels to me as if Franco should still be a character in the shadows or, more importantly, not a viable character at all. I will accept the very few things I dislike about this show and continue to enjoy those things I love most. GH is currently the only show on the air that I can say that about – a show whose positives far outweigh its negatives.

If you haven’t been watching GH, you’re missing a lot! It’s that good.

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If you: repeatedly work to end a woman’s marriage, facilitate her rape after calling her a whore, leave her fragile Alzheimer’s afflicted mother alone to drown, facilitate having her children to grow up without a stable family, behave in such a heinous way that her brother flips out trying to stop you and ends up eventually taking his life once his switch has been flipped, repeatedly try to take custody of her children for your own personal gain, and attempt to murder her on more than one occasion – alternating murder attempts with bouts of public humiliation… well! Don’t lose hope! There IS a way to make it up to her in one magical truly painless (for you, that is) moment:

Even for daytime, this was one weak response to Brooke finding out that the woman she believed had finally come to love and respect her had instead intentionally inflicted harm yet again. If I had a nickel for every time the writers have had Brooke fall for that lie, I’d own controlling interest in Microsoft! Granny Stephanie talked idiotic Thomas into lying and allowing his father to believe that he slept with his stepmother and that she was covering up the ‘dirty deed’. Brooke raised Thomas for part of his young life – when he was still a decent and loving human being. She supported him when he had no support from the rest of his family. In the end, Stephanie was able to convince him to turn on his stepmother with very little persuasion needed.

Given the level of betrayal and inflicted damage, it’s disturbing that the writers have chosen to resolve the storyline this way. It feeds the stereotype about the lack of seriousness in daytime writing and production and helps any newbie who attempts to watch the genre understand why so many actors divorce themselves from their daytime past once they make it beyond the fuzzy daytime curtain. The title of the song could have just an easily applied to the impact of the writing on daytime fans, or would if anyone actually believed that daytime writers even LIKED, much less loved or respected their fans. On one hand, I’m sympathetic to the need to end a stinker of a storyline (like the trudge reunion) as quickly as possible. I have to wonder if BnB writers needed to hurriedly wrap the non-reunion storyline to make Steph and Brooke allies in the fight against Taylor, Bill, and Steffy. The problem is that I (and I’m betting most soap fans) don’t need Stephanie to be Brooke’s ally. I would have loved for the writers to have cast Elizabeth Hubbard (ATWT’s Lucinda Walsh) or Melody Thomas Scott (Ex-/Maybe Current Nikki, YnR) as Beth’s wealthy sister who has been estranged from the family since Beth married Stephen Logan — the man she loved first. Aunt Patience Logan could have suffered a recent loss — her own husband dying tragically. With her adult children living their own lives, the loss leads her to realize how alone she is, and how ashamed she feels that she never made peace with her sister, Beth, before she died. It would motivate her make peace with her newfound family, learn the lay of the land, and then go all kick ass on Steph and her trashy crew, knocking them all on their butts. Aunt Patience would help empower her nieces as they’ve never been empowered before. I’d love her to have a vast fortune, big enough to make the Spencer fortune look like spending change and to use it to bring the pain! The BnB doesn’t often promote strong female leads and when it does, they often become psychotic, whether they’re recognized as such (Sheila Carter) or not (Stephanie Douglas Forrester). Aunt Patience would hopefully avoid becoming such a caricature.

Double my pleasure! Make Aunt Patience’s first-born son, a cousin the Logans have never met, a dead ringer for Stormy Logan, assuming it’s even possible for DeVry to return given his busy filming and taping schedule … Is he Stephen’s son or is the resemblance due to their shared maternal lineage? New Storm (Thunder/Rain Cloud/Lightening) could end up falling for Felicia, complicating his mother’s plans to ruin the Forresters once and for all — but make that complicate, not end or deter. I would DELIGHT in watching Aunt Patience, sitting back in the FC CEO’s chair, forcing Stephanie to drop to her knees and beg for the life of her family’s company. I would REVEL in watching Aunt Patience turn over half of FC stock (maybe 60%) to Hope because she has never been involved with a Forrester and would be less least likely to sign over the shares at some point. She could then allow the Forrester family split the remaining stock. Brooke would, of course, manage her daughter’s interests.

If the writers aren’t invested in bringing in new characters, how about forcing Stephanie to sign her 25 percent over to Brooke? Brooke and Ridge would then, as a couple, effectively run FC again.

How about having Brooke and Steph rehash the forgotten forged letter that ended Brooke’s marriage to Eric, only to have Eric overhear it and dump Steph once and for all? (No, REALLY, no going back!) It’s time to bring a woman into Eric’s life that makes him a romantic lead again, instead of having him live out his days as Stephanie’s sock puppet. As a parting shot, Eric could inform Stephanie that she’s been blinded all these years about who the viper in her bosom actually is and then tell her about Taylor sending him to end things with her for good to prove that he wanted to be with her and only her. Stephanie would wake up too late to the realization that Brooke has never been out to destroy her and in trying to destroy Brooke (Hope, and RJ – Bridget and Rick before them) she’s lost the family she claimed to love. Jackie and Eric, Part 2? Wouldn’t that leave Owen free to go back to Bridget and his son? I could stomach that at this point — especially if Bridget and Owen then found out that Nick was the child’s father and had to figure out how to make their relationship work in light of the news.

What if Stephanie really WAS ostracized this time? Why not begin to build a brand new storyline around her? Get Stephanie out of the fashion industry and doing something with her life that benefits others. The current storyline has trivialized her work with the homeless, which was apparently a hobby in between her moments of obsession with Brooke and Brooke’s marriage to Ridge. Rather than another physical illness, which leaves most fans with little sympathy for her) why not have Stephanie go back to her abuse storyline and have her work with a competent psychiatrist to break her bad habits to manipulating, betraying, and controlling? Maybe Dayzee has an abusive ex-boyfriend who shows up and jump starts the storyline. What if Stephanie accidentally kills him during an altercation and tries to hide the evidence of her crime in a real ‘whodunit?’. What if the writers have his father/brother/sister come looking for him, slowly putting the pieces together, and who begins tormenting Stephanie until the truth is revealed. Anything that keeps her from meddling in her adult children’s lives works for me.

Brooke forgave the rape Stephanie facilitated. She forgave Steph for the fake heart attack she used to break up her family. She forgave Stephanie leaving her agitated mother to drown. She forgave Stephanie’s torment of her brother and her siblings. She forgave Stephanie’s various attempts to destroy her children’s happiness. All the while she was maltreated by Stephanie, she’s has repeatedly fought for Steph’s health, her life, and has done everything she could to become ‘true family’ with her. After more than 20 years of torment, closer to 30 years onscreen, at what point does Brooke get to kick Stephanie’s butt, figuratively or literally?

The above “forgiveness scene” was the equivalent of ordering a cup of tea, savoring every bit until the end, where the last taste is bitter. What a pity. I don’t want Brooke to become the vicious and angry pantload Stephanie has always been. I just want a feeling of ‘satisfaction’ when one of the BnB’s “big” storylines is resolved. The level of betrayal Brooke experiences at Stephanie’s hands, the sheer number of TEARS that woman cries, suggests that a much stronger response is needed. Double dating with the man who left you last week, and his parents, on the eve of his would- be wedding, while his psychotic mother warbles out a classic just doesn’t do it for me.